Arthur Delacroix (b. 1968; d. May 1980) is the son of Christine Dorsett and Samuel Delacroix and the younger brother of Sheila Delacroix. He was a childhood friend of Johnny Stokes. He attended The Brethren School where Stokes was also a student for a short time. He was born six weeks premature and was always a small boy. He was also a difficult child both as an infant and as he grew up. He frequently fought with other boys at school, necessitating the move to the private school.
He was 2 years old when his mother abandoned the family due to spousal abuse. The loss of the mother had a devastating effect on the family. Following that, the father began sexually abusing Sheila. She in turn was regularly physically abusing Arthur beginning at the age of 3. He had numerous bone fractures, some of which were never treated. Altogether there were 44 separate instances of trauma. It is unclear why Arthur never complained to anyone about the abuse.
He was taken to the emergency room on 11 February 1980 with cranial trauma reportedly from a skateboard accident, and underwent surgery to reduce the swelling in his brain. He ran away from home on 4 May 1980, and was eventually lured by Stokes to the hillside behind Wonderland Avenue where Stokes killed and buried Arthur. The apparent motive was that Stokes wanted Delacroix's skateboard, a very popular Bones model by Boneyard Boards.
Delacroix's remains were found on 1 January 2002 by the dog of Wonderland resident Paul Guyot, and his death was investigated by LAPD detectives Harry Bosch and Jerry Edgar.
In 2012, Bosch visited Delacroix's grave at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.
Appearances
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- City of Bones
- The Black Box (mentioned)
- Bosch (mentioned; photograph)
